Monthly Archives: October 2011

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It seems almost like winter arrived into Austin on Thursday nite! We dipped down to about 60 degrees with a cold 20 mph wind. Just the day before it was near 85 degrees. I had wanted to take this photo above for some time. It is located at our local mall…the Hill Country Galleria. The City Hall and Library are located in the mall as well. One entrance has this wonderful waterfall and I targeted a nasty nite to photograph it…Thursday was perfect! You can tell the wind was blowing by looking at the flags and some of the flowers. I took these shots to help support local business. I occasionally supply pictures to our local magazine newsletters for covers. I did a vertical version of this shot and maybe you will see it soon on the Bee Cave Messenger? Here is one of my photos on the cover from last month.
I have been traveling for many years and always enjoy photographing locations around the globe, but sometimes you can find wonderful shots close to your home. Have fun and stay warm!

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Deep into upstate New York you can find the small town of Trumansburg. Nestled in the countryside is Taughannock State Park.

Some info from the web: Taughannock Falls State Park’s namesake waterfall is one of the outstanding natural attractions of the Northeast. Taughannock Falls plunges 215 feet past rocky cliffs that tower nearly 400 feet above the gorge. Gorge and rim trails offer spectacular views from above the falls and from below at the end of the gorge trail. Campsites and cabins overlook Cayuga Lake, with marina, boat launch and beach nearby. A multi-use trail–hiking, cross-country skiing–winds past sledding slopes and natural skating ponds. Boat Launch Site not suitable for any type of sailboat. The park also offers organized activities including tours through the Taughannock Gorge and summer concerts along the lakefront.

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While cruising around East Austin looking for some cool graffiti…I found this location. Super work! These graffiti artists are amazing!! Wonder how you know you have graffiti skills? Where do you test your unknown ability? When you see art like this, its hard to not stop and enjoy!

From the spooky and awesome Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia…this is cell block #8. My little one and I enjoy watching the TV show Ghost Adventures with Zak Baggans. I am not 100% sure ghosts exist, but I do enjoy the potential of the unknown. I think I enjoy the show mostly due to the locations they visit. This is how I found out about ESP. They visit old houses, asylums, penitentiaries and much more. All these places are sweet for HDR! Who ya gonna call….Ghostbusters!

I am a big sports fan and love the major sports…NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. The NBA is mess right now and the season might not even play out. Sad that these millionaires fight over money and they all have tons already! Hey Commissioner Stern….shoot a cool million my way and then I can buy all the gear I want! LOL Oh well..I will still watch after its been settled…Go Celtics!!

With this pic above, I just purchased a black backdrop for my in-home studio and then used… +2 SB-700’s, +2 Pocket Wizards, +2 Westcott Shoot-Thru Umbrella’s…thats it! I have always wanted to try shots like this. Next up with be a flower with the black background. Look for it soon! I now have a few backdrops…my favorite place to get them is Denny’s Mfg. I use Freedom Cloth’s. Great quality and a solid price! Since I shoot in my house…all my backdrops are 8’x10′. I want to get a few “Roll Up Floors” next!

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HDR’ing is now a favorite of many photographers…me included! I love also taking portraits and with the growing popularity of compositing…the two combined is awesome!! Now the tough part is to get it to work. I unfortunately do not have tons of time on my hands but gave this a try recently. My processing is trial and error. I am not a Photoshop Guy like Scott Kelby or Matt Kloskowski, but can do some above basic photoshop work.

I had seen some HDR Composites from the amazing Joel Grimes in the past and his work blew me away like the first time I saw an HDR. Compositing was omething I always wanted to attempt! Then recently, Matt Kloskowski released my favorite book of all time… “Photoshop Compositing Secrets“. Matt’s book is not only inspirational, but detailed and teaches you everything! Thanks Matt!!! You rock!

Now with my Photoshop skill limitations, above you will see my second attempt ever that combines a std photo and an HDR…an HDR Composite! Not perfect, but maybe with more practice and knowledge, I can get better. I asked my FB fans yesterday how to improve the shot from one version I posted online. Based upon their comments, I have since made slight changes and now the finished product is above. Here you can see what I used to get the final picture…

Model Shot: Taken with 2 Westcott Shoot-thru Umbrellas, 2 SB-700’s, Pocket Wizard’s…same location as the HDR, but shot different days!

Diagram for Model Shot…

Now I am far from an expert…but hopefully my second attempt looks good enough? I truly love all the options photography has to offer! Challenges make our ability grow!! The model is the lovely Roshni…she was great!! Thanks Roshni!!

In keeping my run of Texas shots going…I have posted some pics recently from downtown (Tips Iron & Steel) on P2E and also some portraits (Marilyn Monroe door shot) on the Talke Photography blog. I love this location. If you live in Austin…its on 5th and Baylor right in front of the Amtrak Station. If you stand on the tracks, this is the view of Austin you get. Very cool. Just watch out for the Amtrak train and also the Union Pacific Line! I have lots more HDR’s from here…look for em soon!